Floor structures for motor vehicles of the type mentioned in the introduction are know from the prior art. Since the instantaneous average energy density of energy storage modules such as batteries is significantly less than that of conventional fuels such as petrol, energy storage modules used for example to drive electric vehicles require significantly more space than petrol. In order however not to have to limit the space in the vehicle or in the boot, these energy storage modules are frequently stored in the floor of vehicles. This also has the advantage that the centre of gravity of the vehicle is not too greatly affected.
Various arrangements of batteries in vehicle floors are known from the prior art. The problem here however is the accident behaviour of the vehicles in relation to the energy storage modules. Already simply due to the shape of vehicles, in the case of side impacts in particular only a very small amount of space is available for a side impact protection, for example in the form of a crumple zone or other additional elements that protect the energy storage modules. An effective protection of the energy storage modules is however absolutely essential, since on the one hand damage to the energy storage modules results in expensive replacement and repair costs, and on the other hand constitutes an environmental hazard if chemical substances for example from a damaged battery are released into the environment after an accident.
For this reason there is a need for an effective protection of the energy storage modules in the floor structure of vehicles so that the aforementioned disadvantages can be avoided. At the same time it must be borne in mind that such an improved protection must neither be at the expense of the weight or spatial requirements of the vehicle, nor should it involve additional costs.
Against this background the technical object of the present invention is to provide a floor structure that in the event of accidents, in particular side impacts, improves the protection of the energy storage modules in the floor structures of vehicles without adversely affecting the weight or the costs.